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INUVIK - What happens when a gorgeous Gwich'in nurse meets one strapping, handsome Inuvialuit doctor within the confines of a hospital in Whitehorse?

Who knows? But those are the sorts of ideas Topsy Cockney, executive director of the Inuvialuit Communications Society (ICS), is toying with as she plans to screen a soap-opera style series on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).

Topsy Cockney, ICS executive director, shows off the society's production studio on Mackenzie Road. She's working on a "light-hearted dramatic six-part series" that will air on APTN. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

It's a project she hopes will lure a younger audience to the channel, but at the same time display elements of both cultures on screen.

"It will be a light-hearted dramatic six-part series," she said. "It's two cultures coming together to tell a bigger story about us living with each other: the Inuvialuit and First Nations. That's something we can all relate to, especially youth," she said

She added the idea fits into the society's mandate, which focuses on producing documentaries for and about Inuvialuit in the Western Arctic.

Cockney sits on the APTN board, where the idea was spawned in a partnership with a fellow member, Shirley Adamson, who represents Yukon. The idea started taking shape after three years.

The pair recently hired Jennifer Podemski, a noted Canadian producer, to partner in the project. The trio met in Toronto late last week for a few days to hash out a rough sketch of the series. Although tight-lipped about plot details, Cockney said the set will consist of a makeshift hospital. Producers are hoping to recruit Inuvialuit actors living in the Beaufort Delta and many will come from Whitehorse.

She said she would love to have a movie set in Inuvik but it would be too expensive.

Cockney said there will be an emphasis on Inuvialuit culture and language.

"We might bring in a translator into the hospital to explain various ailments to elderly patients," she said. "We might have people at their bush camps and have bush pilots that have to go out and get them. The landscape will also be important."

A proud Inuvialuit, she said the project will be just another device to keep both cultures alive.

"We are an oral people. We never did write things down," she said.

"We're very visual. We're great storytellers and I believe as Inuvialuit we have great stories to tell. We have a past that can be told. This is one way to do it."